Re-sealable bag



May 18, 1965 J. P. REPKO RE-SEALABLE BAG 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 24,1962 INVEN TOR.

United States Patent A O 3,184,149 RE-SEALABLE BAG John P. Replro,Parma, Ohio, assignor to The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich, acorporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 232,677 4 Claims.(Cl. 229-66) This invention relates to a bag assemblage which may beconveniently opened and resealed after initial opening, so that thecontents remain in protected condition.

A type of bag assemblage in current useage, especially in the foodproducts field, comprises a plastic type envelope for sliced meat,cheese, etc. Opening means, in the form of pull strings, tapes, orserrated edges, are often incorporated in the bag structure for theconvenient opening thereof.

The subject invention represents an improvement in such type of baassemblage, and more specifically, provides a convenient and effectivemeans for rescaling the bag after opening, so that the contents remainin protected condition. Briefly, the inventive concept involves theprovision of an adhesive area on an exterior portion of the bagassemblage, which may be used for maintaining the bag in closedcondition after opening. A protective covering is preferably arrangedupon the adhesive area, which covering is removed when the adhesive areais to be used for bag rescaling. The bag structure of the invention thusaffords a means for maintaining enclosed food products in fresh anduseable condition, after initial opening of the bag.

The main object of this invention is to provide an improvement in bagassemblages.

A more specific object is to provide a convenient means for rescaling abag structure after it has been opened, whereby the contents will remainin protected condition.

A further object is to provide a bag structure which may be rescaled anindefinite number of times after each opening, to afford gradualdespensing of the bag contents as desired.

These and further objects and features of the invention will become moreapparent from the following description and accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspectivedike view of a bag embodying the principles ofthe invention, with a corner portion of the bag removed;

FIG. 2 is the same but showing a modified embodiment;

FIG. 3 is the same but showing a further modified em bodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exterior view of any one of the bags of FIGS. 1-3, butshowing the bag in opened condition;

FIG. 5 is an exterior view of the bag shown in FIG. 4, but showing thebag in reclosed condition; and

FIGS. 6 to 8 are schematic illustrations showing a manner in which thebags of FIGS. 1 to 3 respectively, may be formed.

Referring now to FIG. 1, numeral 10 identifies a bag formed inaccordance with the principles of the invention, which bag comprises twosheets of flexible material 12 and 14, sealed about the entire peripheryto enclose a product 16 in substantially air tight condition. Thematerial of the bag may be transparent, or translucent, and formed of apolymeric substance, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene,vinyl, saran, or rubber hydrochloride, cellophane, paper, and aluminiumfoil, by way of example. The sealing may be accomplished by heatsealing, or with adhesives, as would be most appropriate for thematerial of the bag. The construction of the bag may be flexible,semi-rigid, and rigid or any combination; for example, one sheet beingrelatively rigid, while the other sheet is flexible.

Means for conveniently opening the bag comprise a tear string 13,arranged near one end of the bag and adapted for cutting the sheet 12along a straight line, when the string is pulled outwardly and acrossthe width of the bag to form an opening line 19. Under certainconditions, it will be obvious that the opening means may be dispensedwith.

The structure of the bag, so far described, is similar to bags of theknown prior art, and no claim per se is made thereon.

The inventive concept pertains to a convenient means for reclosing thebag after it has been opened, that is, after the tear string 18 has beenused. Toward this end, a pressure sensitive tape, or adhesive area 20,is provided along one edge of the bag on the sheet 12, which area mayextend across the entire width of the bag, if desired. The adhesivematerial is the type which retains its adhesive powers even afterexposure to atmosphere, and which will stick to another surface merelyby application of pressure. A protective covering 22, may be positionedatop the adhesive area, which covering is easily removed when the bag isto be reclosed. As seen in FIG. 5, the upper end of the opened bag hasbeen bent, or folded over, to thus conveniently reclose the bag forprotection of the unused products therein. The bag may be subsequentlyopened and reclosed as desired, by use of the sealing effect provided bythe adhesive area 20.

In FIG. 2, a modified form of bag 24 is shown, which differs from thebag 10 only in structural details of the bag, which are not directlyconcerned with the inventive concept. Bag 24 is formed of a single sheetof material, which is folded and sealed along three sides. A tear tape28 is arranged near one end of the bag for opening the bag along a line,such as line 19 on a side wall, as is well known to those skilled in theart. An adhesive area 20, with a protective covering 22, is arranged atone end of the bag, near the tear tape 28. Bag 24 is lgscd the samemanner as described in connection with In FIG. 3, a further modified bag30 is shown which is similar to bag 24, except that an inverted fold 32is provided at the bottom of the bag, and a perforated tear line 34 isprovided in one side wall, in lieu of a tear string, or tear tape, as inthe case of the first two described embodiments.

In each of the three embodiments, two nicks or notches 36, may beprovided adjacent each side of the tear means and at one end thereof, sothat the tearing operation may be conveniently initiated.

The manner of forming and filling each of the bags 1%), 24 and 30 isshown schematically in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 respectively. It is pointed out,that the adhesive area Ed and protective covering 22, may be applied toeach bag either prior to content filling, or after, as desired.

It will be seen, that the method of the invention lends itself toutilization on generally standard packaging machinery, with only slightmodification being necessary for application of the adhesive area to thebag structure.

It will be seen that the bag assemblage above described, will satisfythe objectives set forth hereinbefore.

The foregoing description has been given in detail without thought oflimitation since the inventive principles involved are capable ofassuming other forms without departing from the spirit of the inventionor the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sealed bag assemblage, with product therein, said assemblagecapable of being opened and of being rescaled after being opened wherebythe product therein can be gradually dispensed while the balance willremain in protective condition, comprising a sealed bag having one sidecomprising a sheet of flexible material having a tear means arranged onsaid side near one end thereof and adapted for cutting through said sideof said bag, and a pressure sensitive adhesive on said side near saidend of said bag whereby after use of said tear means, said end of saidbag may be folded upon itself and pressure applied to said adhesive toreseal the bag. 7

2. The bag assemblage of claim 1 wherein said pressure sensitiveadhesive has a cover removably affixed thereto. 7

3. The bag assemblage of claim 1 wherein said flexible materialcomprises plastic sheet material.

4. The bag assemblage of claim 1 wherein said cut through one side ofsaid bag is across the entire Width of said bag.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,287,581 6/42Walker 20619.5 X 2,307,735 1/43 Fehr 229-51 2,429,505 10/47 Ashman.2,536,773 1/51 Saidel 20641 2,803,574 8/57 Payant 20657 X 2,894,675 7/59Stein.

' FOREIGN PATENTS 978,420 11/50 France.

1,010,706 3/52 France.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

5 EARLE J. DRUMMOND, Examiner.

1. A SEALED BAG ASSEMBLAGE, WITH PRODUCT THEREIN, SAID ASSEMBLAGECAPABLE OF BEING OPENED AND OF BEING RESEALED AFTER BEING OPENED WHEREBYTHE PRODUCT THEREIN CAN BE GRADUALLY DISPENSED WHILE THE BALANCE WILLREMAIN IN PROTECTIVE CONDITION, COMPRISING A SEALED BAG HAVING ONE SIDECOMPRISING A SHEET OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL HAVING A TEAR MEANS ARRANGED ONSAID SIDE NEAR ONE END THEREOF AND ADAPTED FOR CUTTING THROUGH SAID SIDEOF SAID BAG, AND A PRESSURE SENSITIVE ADHESIVE ON SAID SIDE NEAR SAIDEND OF SAID BAG WHEREBY AFTER USE OF SAID TEAR MEANS, SAID END OF SAIDBAG MAY BE FOLDED UPON ITSELF AND PRESSURE APPLIED TO SAID ADHESIVE TORESEAL THE BAG.